F1 LIVE: Ferrari mistakes are costing Charles Leclerc the world championship, warns Martin Brundle

More on Lewis Hamilton, who has confirmed he will race at the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend despite suffering back pain from excessive “bouncing” at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday.

Hamilton described the Baku race as “the most painful I’ve ever experienced” after the ‘porpoising’ along the long and bumpy straights left the 37-year-old “praying” for the finish line.

The Mercedes driver finished fourth but looked in discomfort upon exiting his car, raising concerns that he could be forced to miss the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend in what is a back-to-back.

But in an update on Monday, Hamilton said he had woken up feeling “positive” after receiving treatment from his physiotherapist Angela Cullen and said he would not be missing the Montreal race.

“Of course, [Mercedes] can fix it by raising the car but then they lose a huge amount of performance. So, they need to get the car low, stiff on the suspension and stiff on the side wall of the new tyres as well, and they’ve had to sacrifice comfort for performance.

“What’s surprising, really, is that Mercedes just can’t seem to get a handle on what looks like, actually, quite an excellent car, if they could just unlock it.”

“We’re into the thick of a 22-race season, races are coming relentlessly at us. If you’ve got one big issue, you go and fix it, but there are various gremlins that Ferrari are having.

“Reliability is costing him heavily now, a chance at becoming world champion. Strategy cost him in Monaco of a chance of a glorious victory in his hometown.

“He loves Ferrari and Ferrari love him, in a way that, the last time I saw something like that was between Michael Schumacher and the Ferrari team.

“There’s an awful lot of love to burn through there but right now, Leclerc must be feeling as bruised as Lewis’ back.”

Red Bull have extended their lead over Ferrari with a perfect weekend in Azerbaijan, as Verstappen and Perez collected a one-two and Ferrari recorded a double retirement. The gap between the two teams is now 80 points, and Red Bull are putting themselves in an excellent position to finally win the manufacturers’ prize after so much Mercedes domination.

1. Red Bull Racing, 279.

2. Ferrari, 199.

3. Mercedes, 161.

4. McLaren, 65.

5. Alpine, 47.

6. Alfa Romeo Racing, 41.

7. Alphatauri, 27.

8. Haas F1 Team, 15.

9. Aston Martin, 15.

10. Williams, 3.

Ferrari are costing Charles Leclerc’s world championship bid “heavily” as strategy errors and reliability failure continues to hold him back, says Martin Brundle.

Leclerc’s Ferrari engine gave out while he was in position to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the weekend, causing his second retirement in three races, while a mistake with his first pitstop probably cost him the race win on his home track of Monaco. The former F1 driver turned analyst Brundle believes Leclerc, who is now well down on championship leader Max Verstappen in the standings, could miss out on his first world title as a result.

“Charles Leclerc must be beside himself,” Brundle told Sky Sports. “He could have had four glorious victories; he’s sticking the car on pole position, driving beautifully and then this kind of thing is happening to him just way too much.”

Max Verstappen has extended his lead at the top of the drivers’ championship, and right now his closest rival is his teammate Sergio Perez. That will change, you suspect, if Ferrari can get on top of their reliability issues because clearly Charles Leclerc has the pace in qualifying, but with only a few days until the Canadian Grand Prix gets under way, Ferrari do not have much time to get their car right.

1. Max Verstappen, Netherlands, Red Bull Racing, 150 points.

2. Sergio Perez, Mexico, Red Bull Racing, 129.

3. Charles Leclerc, Monaco, Ferrari, 116.

4. George Russell, Great Britain, Mercedes, 99.

5. Carlos Sainz Jr, Spain, Ferrari, 83.

6. Lewis Hamilton, Great Britain, Mercedes, 62.

7. Lando Norris, Great Britain, McLaren, 50.

8. Valtteri Bottas, Finland, Alfa Romeo Racing, 40.

9. Esteban Ocon, France, Alpine, 31.

10. Pierre Gasly, France, Alphatauri, 16.

11. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Alpine, 16.

12. Kevin Magnussen, Denmark, Haas F1 Team, 15.

13. Daniel Ricciardo, Australia, McLaren, 15.

14. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Aston Martin, 13.

15. Yuki Tsunoda, Japan, Alphatauri, 11.

16. Alexander Albon, Thailand, Williams, 3.

17. Lance Stroll, Canada, Aston Martin, 2.

18. Guanyu Zhou, China, Alfa Romeo Racing, 1.

Lewis Hamilton has vowed to race at the Canadian Grand Prix despite injuring his back in Azerbaijan. Hamilton said he just wanted the race to end after being in so much pain due to the bouncing of his Mercedes car on the Baku street circuit. Afterwards Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said Hamilton was a “doubt” for Canada this weekend but, writing on Instagram on Monday morning, Hamilton insisted he will be in Montreal for the race.

“Yesterday was tough and had some troubles sleeping but have woke up feeling positive today! Back is a little sore and bruised but nothing serious thankfully. I’ve had acupuncture and physio and am on the way to work with the them on improving. We have to keep fighting. No time like the present to pull together and we will. I’ll be there this weekend, wouldn’t miss it for the world. Wishing everybody and amazing day and week.”

“Let’s definitely make some changes.”

Toto Wolff to Lewis Hamilton after his Mercedes car dealt him back pain with severe porpoising during a brutal Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen on Charles Leclerc’s troubles: “That’s racing. It happened to me, it happened to many people in the past. Unfortunately, it’s happening to Charles,” Verstappen said when asked if he had any sympathy for his rival’s difficulties. “If I would be in the same situation, I would also be disappointed. I think that’s very normal. But it’s about how you come out of it, you always look at how to improve things. That’s what we did as well in the beginning of the season. And you learn from it. You don’t like it, you’re angry, but we turn it around.”

Christian Horner has dismissed Toto Wolff’s claims for the FIA to adjust Formula 1 rules over porpoising following Lewis Hamilton’s struggles.

The Mercedes superstar revealed his back was “killing” him during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix due to repeated bouncing from the porpoising effect.

And Wolff immediately made a plea to the governing body, insisting: “We need to do something on the regulations because he [Hamilton] can’t move.”

But Horner has labelled the complaints as “part of the game,” while admitting he would instruct his Red Bull drivers to “bitch as much as they could” if the RB18 experienced similar issues.